Carmen Sosa Foundation

About The Carmen Sosa Foundation

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The Carmen Sosa Foundation is a non-profit organization created to keep the public informed about the most common mental illnesses that affect our society. The Main objective is to educate and inform the public so that they can understand and recognize the drastic changes that are produced inside of our brains.

Definition of Mental Illness

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                Mental Illnesses are serious medical conditions that interfere with a person's thinking, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. Mental Illness often results in a diminishment of one's capacity to cope with the demands of life.

                Different mental Illness include major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obssessive compulsive disorder(O.C.D), Panic disorder, post traumatic, stress disorder(P.T.S.D) and borderline personality disorder. Recovery is possible for people that suffer from mental illness.

                 Mental Illness can affect anybody regardless of their age, race, religion, or financial situation. People that suffer from mental illness are not necessarily weak people, or people of poor character. It does not matter who you are everybody is at risk of getting mental illness.

                  Due to all these new treatments and therapies, most people who are diagnosed with mental illness are experiencing relief from their symptoms by following up on their treatments, and participating in different activities in the community such as talk therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, Interpersonal therapy and peer support groups, good diet excercise and more.

                  According to the National Institute of mental Health, Mental illness is concentrated in a small proportion of the population. 6 percent or 1 out of every 17 Americans live with a serious mental illness. According to the report, 57.7 million Americans experience a mental health disorder in a given year. The US surgeon general reports that 10 percent of children and adolescents in the United States suffer from serious emotional and mental disorders that cause serious functional impairment in their lives, homes, and school.

                  According to the World Health Organization report, 4 of the 10 leading causes of disability in the United States and other devoloped countries are mental health disorders. The report also stated that by 2020 major depressive illness will be the leading cause of disability for women and children in the world. Usually mental illness strikes in the early years of an individual's life. More frequently in the early years of an individual's life. More frequently during their adolescence and young adulthood.

                  Without the treatments that exist, the consequences of the mental illness can be devastating, for the individual, and for the society. They lead to unnecessary disability, unemployment, substance abuse, and homelessness. The cost of untreated mental illness is more than 100 billion dollars each year in the United States.

                   Most of the treatments for mental illness that we have today are highly effective, between 70 to 90 percent of Individuals with mental inllness experience a significant reduction of symptoms, and improved quality of life that comes from a combination of pharmacological and psychological treatments and support.

Definition and Causes

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Schizophrenia is a bio-chemical disturbance of the brain that is genetic, causing severly maladaptive behavior and often subjective distress. Approximately 1.1% of America's population or 2.4 million Americans have schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is probably the most costly diagnosis.

Bipolar

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What is Bipolar?

           Bipolar disorder, also known as maniac depression, causes serious mood changes, energy changes, thinking, and behavior highs and lows. The Word bipolar means two polar. Patients with bipolar disorder may feel bad for a while and extreme excitement at the next moment. The cycles of Bipolar disorder last for days, weeks, or months. These mood changes of Bipolar disorder can be so intense that they interfere with a person's ability to function. A person with Bipolar disorder might impusively quit a job, may shop impulsively for things they dont need. People with Bipolar disorder may feel good by sleeping two hours a day. On the other hand, during a depressive episode, the same person might be too tired to get out of bed.

           The case of Bipolar disorder is not completely understood but it frequently runs in the family. Bipolar disorder usually starts early in the teenage years or early adulthood, the symptoms can be confusing. People with Bipolar disorder sometimes are misdiagnosed. The symptoms of Bipolar disorder can hurt your job and school performance, damage your relationships, and disrupt your daily life. Some people do not recognize the warning signs of Bipolar. Bipolar disorder is treatable, it is important to get diagnosed early, when the symptoms are less dangerous. Recognizing the problems helps to get the symptoms of bipolar disorder under control.

           Bipolar disorder can affect your memory, concentration, appetite, sleep patterns, sex drive, and self esteem. Some people with Bipolar disorder may present anxiety, substance abuse problems, and other medical issues such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, migraine, and more. The symptoms of Bipolar vary between different people. Everybody is different. People with maniac Bipolar disorder have feelings of very energetic, very creative, and euphoric. They may sleep less and are very imperactive. Some people with Bipolar may feel very powerful, invincible, or destined for greatness.

     There are Four types of mood episodes in Bipolar disorder:

Mania
Hypomania
Depression
Mixed Episodes

Common signs and symptoms of Mania are:

Feeling unusually "high" and optimistic or extremely irritable
Unrealistic, grandiose beliefs about one's abilities or powers
Sleeping very little, but feeling extremely energetic
Talking so rapidly that others cannot keep up
Racing thoughts; Jumping quickly from one idea to the next
Highly distractible, unable to concentrate
Impaired judgment and impulsiveness
Acting recklessly without thinking about the consequences
Delusions and Hallucinations

Common symptoms of Bipolar depression are:

Feeling hopeless, sad, or empty
Irritability
Inability to experience pleasure
Fatigue or loss of energy
Appetite or weight changes
Sleep problems
Concentration and memory problems
Feeling of worthlessness or guilt

     Bipolar disorder and suicide:

          The depressive phase of Bipolar disorder is something severe, suicide is a high risk factor. For this reason, people with Bipolar are more likely to attempt suicide than those suffering from regular depression.
    The Warning signs of Suicide are:

Talking about death, self harm, or suicide
Feeling hopeless or helpless
Feeling worthless or like a burden to others
Acting recklessly or as if one has a "death wish"
Putting affairs in order, or saying goodbye
Seeking out weopons or pills that could be used to commit suicide

Diagnosing Schizophrenia

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                   According to the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, in order for a psychiatrist to make a diagnosis of schizophrenia, the patient has to experience specific symptoms over a period of time. According to the information, a diagnosis of schizophrenia can be made only if a person meets the following criteria:

        1) Two of the following five symptoms for about 30 days: Hallucinations, delusions, negative symptoms, disorganized behavior or disorganized speech.

        2) Some signs and symptoms have to be present for a minimum of six months.

        3) There must be no indecation of bipolar disorder, symptoms mania alternating with depression.

          4) Can not be a medical or neurological cause of the symptoms.

        5) The symptoms cannot be caused by the use of illegal drugs, alcohol or medication.

Types of Schizophrenia:

        1) Paranoid Schizophrenia - Hallucination
        2) Disorganized Schizophrenia - Very Psychotic
        3) Catatomic Schizophrenia
        4) Residual Schizophrenia

Type I and Type II:

         Type I Schizophrenia - patients have mostly hallucinations, delusions, disorganized behavior. These are positive symptoms.

         Type II Schizophrenia - Patients show more negative symptoms than type I patients. They include lack of initiative, motivation, their faces are unexpressive.

         Schizoaffective disorder - is a condition that has symptoms of psychosis and symptoms of mania or depression. Schizoaffective disorder can be bipolar type or depressive type.

Early warning signs of schizophrenia:

Social Withdrawal
Hostility or suspiciousness
Deterrotation of personal hygene
Flat expressionless gaze
Inability to cry or express joy
Inappropriate laughter or crying
Depression
Oversleeping or Insomnia
Odd or Irrational Statements
Forgetful, unable to concentrate
Extreme reaction to criticism
Strange use of words way of speaking

Signs and Symptoms of Disorganized Schizophrenia:

Disorganized schizophrenia is most likely to appear at an earlier age than other types of schizophrenia. It starts gradually, rather than abruptly.

The Symptoms of disorganized schizophrenia

Impaired communication skills
Incomprehensible or Illogical Speech
Emotional indifference
Inappropriate reactions
Infantile Behavior
Peculiar Facial expression and mannerism

Characteristics of Schizophrenia

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                    Thinking - In order for a diagnosis of scizophrenia to be made, there must be a disturbance in thinking, in the Thought Content, Thought Process, Perception, Behavioral Affects, and Interpersonal Relationship.

                 A) Thought Content - The person has a false and fixed belief system not based on reality(delusional).

                 B) Thought Process - The person cannot organize thoughts in a way where one statement coherently follows the next(making no sense).

                 C) Perception - The person will percieve things that are not present(Hallucinations). It could be auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, or tactile.

                 D) Affect - The person is not able to express emotion about the current situation.

                 E) Behavior - Disorganized behavior, confused, or bizarre. This is usually in response to internal stimuli(Hallucination and Dilusion).

                 F) Interpersonal Relationship - The person may be estranged from family and friends. It could be due to paranoia and mistrust.

The Four Primary Symptom Domains in Schizophrenia

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                      A) Positive Symptoms - Hallucination, Delusional Thinking, Thought Disorders, Motor Agitation.

                  Delusions: erroneous beliefs that usually involve a misinterpretation of perceptions with content including a variety of themes(persecutory, somatic, religious, or grandiose).

                  Hallucinations: can occur in any sensory modality(auditory, visual, smell, taste, and tactile).

                  Disorganized Thinking: irrational thought process manifested by loose association, tangential thinking and word salad.

                  Disorganized Behavior: can be manifested in many different ways from childlike silliness to unpredictable agitation(dress in unusual manner, layers of coats on hot days, shouting in public).

                  B) Negative Symptoms - Social withdrawal, blunted affect, passive behavior, impoverished thinking.

                  Flat Affect: Face appears immobile and unresponsive, poor eye contact and reduced body language. Range of emotional expressiveness is clearly diminished most of the time.

                  Alogia: (poverty of speech) manifested by brief empty replies

                  Avolition: characterized by an inability to initiate and persist in goal directed activities. The person may sit for long periods of time and show litlle interest in participating in work or social activities.

                  C) Cognitive Disfunctions - Decreased attention span, impaired memory, poor executive functioning.

                  D) Mood Symptoms - Mood Swings, mania, depressed mood. If this is severe the person may be diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder.